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Will it Take Until 2030 to Rebuild the World Trade Center?

April 18, 2009, 1pm PDT

The downturn in the economy has led the owners of the Ground Zero site to put off for decades construction of two of the three planned towers.

"The owners of ground zero, locked in a new round of heated talks with a private developer about how and when to build office towers at the World Trade Center site, have proposed indefinitely putting off two of three planned skyscrapers until the real estate market recovers, officials familiar with the negotiations say.

One analysis prepared for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey predicts World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein wouldn't be able to finish building all three towers he plans for decades, with the last tower finished by 2030.

An analysis of Silverstein's plan by the Cushman & Wakefield real estate brokerage projected that while two of Silverstein's towers could be built by 2013, a third would not be built until 2030 and fully leased until 2036. A second tower that hasn't been built yet wouldn't be fully leased until 2025, the brokerage says."